Ben's Top 40 Albums of 2007 (Best Comedy & Live Album up)
Best Comedy Album
Patton Oswalt - Werewolves And Lollipops
What a banner year Patton Oswalt had in 2007. Not only was he the lead in arguably Pixar's best movie to date in Ratatouille, but he also released the best album of his career. Werewolves And Lollipops showcases Patton at his absolute best, and shows why he's one of the hardest working comedians today. From his riffs on the KFC Famous Bowls, to time traveling back to kill George Lucas with a shovel before he makes the prequels, to him completely owning a heckler, this is how all comedians should be at their peak. If you think you like great comedy, and haven't heard of this album or Patton Oswalt then what the **** are you doing with your time?
Best Live Album
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
This album is brilliant on so many levels. You would think a live album for an electronic group wouldn't be so interesting, well then you would be very wrong. This is the most exciting live album i've heard in quite a while. It's pretty much a greatest hits set that is mixed masterfully and very exciting. There is also some bits of other songs like Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" that leads into "Technologic" which Swizz Beatz used to sample "Touch it". Having Daft Punk mix that song in their set is almost like them giving their blessing to it. The other huge plus of this live album? It makes the horribly mediocre Human After All songs sound very amazing! I know, I couldn't believe it either.
This live album was recorded in Paris on June 14th, 2007 during their highly innovative tour. That tour which also hit North American shores was the hottest ticket in any city it was playing in because it also was an amazing visual show. I'm going to quote this from Wikipedia because they explain it so much better
Quote:
The visuals of the 2006 and Alive 2007 tour were set up by XL Video. The company provided eight-core Mac Pro units running Catalyst v4 and Final Cut Pro. Daft Punk approached the company with their visual concept for the shows. “They came to us with a pretty fixed idea of what they wanted,” said head of XL Video, Richard Burford. “They wanted to mix live video with effects. Using the eight-core Mac Pros, we were able to take in eight digital sources and treat them as video streams. Then they could use Catalyst to coordinate the video with lighting effects and add their own effects in on the fly. The final digital video streams ran to LED screens.”
Daft Punk decided not to release an official video of it because they thought it wouldn't be able capture the essence of the live show. Youtube videos from the tour are all over, and Daft Punk thought those videos did a much better job then any high budget video thing they would ever do. here's one of them to showcase how amazing it is:
Daft Punk had a huge year this year. Not only did they have this hugely successful tour, but as you all know Kanye West sampled "Harder Better Faster Stronger" for his #1 hit "Stronger", and obviously-influenced-by-Daft-Punk group Justice had a big year as well. With Alive 2007 they prove that they still very much got it, and Alive 2007 will document this moment in time for the group for decades to come.
another sidelist will be up tomorrow. should be music related. then Part 4 should be up on Friday. wooo.
Ben's Top 40 Albums of 2007 (Disappointments Of The Year up)
now before I begin this section let me be clear that these are the disappointments of the year. These aren't the worst albums I heard this year. These are both albums I had high expectations for, and they didn't live up to those expectations.
Disappointments Of The Year
T.I. - Cliff vs. Clifford The Good Songs: Watch What You Say To Me, Hurt, Help Is Coming, Tell 'Em I Said That, Respect This Hustle
What the hell happened, T.I.? Last year was a great year for you. You released one of your best albums in KING, and you also released the best hip-hop single of the year in "What You Know". So I was sure that you would be able to do something on that level again for your new album Cliff vs. Clifford, but NOPE! I should of known when reports came in that Wyclef was going to do a lot of work on the album that this album was a goner. Because something that people don't seem to realize is that if you are a hip-hop artist, and you work with Wyclef your career is ****ed. Just ask Canibus. One of the most promising newcomers at the time, and for his debut album he works with Wyclef and gets panned out the ass. He could never come back from that.
I know what you are saying to yourself "but, Ben! Cliff vs. Clifford sold a lot of records when it came out!". Well, that may be true, but tell me which one of his singles was a hit? He doesn't have a "What You Know" on this album in terms of an amazing song that everyone loves or in terms of a Hit song on that caliber. One of the reasons why that didn't happen is because T.I.'s former secret weapon DJ Toomp didn't do any work at all on the album. T.I. and Toomp made great songs together. I mean just look at this list: Dope Boyz, Heavy Chevys, 24's. Be Easy, You Don't Know Me, Motivation, What You Know, Bankhead, among others. The chemistry that T.I. and Toomp have together is almost like Jay-Z's chemistry with Just Blaze. Every time they are in the studio they come out with a banger. Apparently T.I. was too busy making his Miami Vice-lite songs with Wyclef that he didn't even work with Toomp. So you know what DJ Toomp decided to do? Work with a little known rapper named Kanye West, and produce and co-produce a lot of songs on his little record called Graduation. You all know what happened after that. Ever since the huge success of Graduation, DJ Toomp has been one of the most in demand producers in all of hip-hop. Jay-Z worked with him on his album American Gangster, Nas will be working with him on his new album, and lots more rappers will be working with him in 2008. I guess T.I. wishes he picked up the phone and called Toomp back then didn't he?
Now there are some great songs on Cliff vs. Clifford (the ones I listed above), but there are some songs that are the worst songs T.I. has ever made. The Wyclef songs, the Nelly song, and worst of all "Touchdown". I don't even understand how a song like "Touchdown" made it onto a major label album. Do rappers not realize by now that Eminem is a TERRIBLE PRODUCER. It has to be in the top 10 worst beats ever put on a major label rap album. T.I. tries to salvage the song, but not only is Eminem a bad producer, but he's a terrible MC now. Just put on a song from The Marshall Mathers LP, and then play "Touchdown" right after that and you'll end up crying. I don't think there's ever been such a huge fall off in quality in hip-hop as Eminem.
I hope for T.I.'s next album (whenever that will be now), that he'll be really focused and make a great album again. He should do more songs with Just Blaze, Danja (who is the MVP of Cliff vs. Clifford), and pick up the phone to call DJ Toomp to do songs again. Because I want T.I. to succeed, and I don't like seeing him this way.
The New ****ographers - Challengers The Good Songs: All but "Unguided"
This is going to be the toughest thing I write in this year-end countdown.
After the New ****os' absolutely amazing album Twin Cinema I was of course looking forward to what they had coming up next. then Challengers came out, and It really bummed me out when I first heard it. Nothing I heard minus the title track, and "Mutiny, I Promise You" got my attention. As I continued to listen to it however I started liking more and more of the songs. However there is one song on the album that will never grow on me, and I think it's one of the New ****ographers' most misguided decisions: Unguided. The concept of an epic New ****os' song sounds pretty good at first, but the execution is really off. It doesn't at all feel epic, and it just drags on for 6 and a half minutes and bores you to death. Compare that to Twin Cinema's "The Bleeding Heart Show" which is 2 minutes shorter, but feels much more powerful then any single moment in "Unguided".
Now as I've been listening to the album more it does grow on you, but it's still without a doubt the worst album The New ****ographers' have ever put out. There are a bunch of great songs on here, but none of them stack up to anything on Twin Cinema or Electric Version. For the next album they should do shorter songs with better, and bigger hooks which is really what the New ****ographers' were all about when they started.
Well assuming T.I. isn't going to jail his album Paper Trail will come out in 2008. I don't know I liked the album but you make good reasons. But I definitely don't think his career is over he is too good of a rapper. But yeah King was better.
One of the most welcome comebacks this year. The last we heard Prodigy of Mobb Deep was on the horribly mediocre Blood Money that was the group's first album with G-Unit. There were some slight signs that the group still had it like on "Pearly Gates", but the rest was very terrible. Luckily 50 Cent allowed Prodigy to put out Return Of The Mac, an album that was originally only supposed to be a Mixtape, on Koch and we are left with a thing of gritty greatness.
Prodigy did the album entirely with producer The Alchemist (easily one of the best hip-hop producers today) and it's something that couldn't be released on a major label. It's raw, the beats are samples from 70's Blaxploitation films like Black Caesar, and it's painfully honest. Prodigy raps about life in New York very honestly with a recurring theme of the album being "New York made me this way". The Alchemist's production on here perfectly invokes the era of 70's era Soul, and gives Prodigy the perfect music-bed to rap about life in New York. Prodigy rarely mentions his affiliation with G-Unit or 50 Cent during the album except in passing statements about how he has "blood on his G-Unit's".
As I said earlier on, this album was intended to be a mixtape to prelude Prodigy's second full length album H.N.I.C. 2. A line he says on the last song "Stop Frontin'" is "This the mixtape; imagine how the album sound,". I hope H.N.I.C. 2 can live up to Return Of The Mac, but I honestly doubt it. From the leaked songs off the album that have been coming out over the past couple weeks none stack up to any of the songs on here. I guess the magic that Return Of The Mac sparked was just very spontaneous with not thinking of pleasing labels and just making music for the love of it. More rapper/producer combos should try this formula out more often.
Best Songs:
1. Mac 10 Handle
2. Stuck On You
3. The Rotten Apple
24. Little Brother - Getback
One of the most slept on groups in hip-hop. Little Brother is Phonte, Big Pooh, and producer 9th Wonder, or were. Yep, the big story of Getback is that this is the first Little Brother album that isn't entirely produced by 9th Wonder. The album is handled by a very strong production team including Illmind, Hi-Tek, Mr. Porter, Nottz, Khrysis, among others. 9th Wonder only produces one song and it's one of the highlights of the album: "Breakin' My Heart" featuring Lil' Wayne. Yes, that Lil' Wayne. The song I think is Little Brother's most accessible to date, and could get them radio play. The group has been compared as a Southern version of A Tribe Called Quest, and this album continues that tradition. I think Getback is also very accessible, and should gain them some new fans. if only for them to know of Phonte, who is without a doubt (imo) one of the best MC's around today. and btw, Phonte completely destroys Lil' Wayne on "Breakin' My Heart".
Best Songs:
1. Breakin' My Heart feat. Lil' Wayne
2. Extrahard
3. Two Step Blues feat. Darien Brockington
23. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Ohhh, what to say about this album that everyone else hasn't already. well, why don't I just copy what everyone else said?
Quote:
Pitchfork:
Person Pitch as a whole evokes the sunshine of Lennox's adopted Lisbon, Portugal home. But it's the kind of light best experienced with eyes closed-- with the rays filtered through eyelids, turning the world into various shades of red and orange. You can feel the warmth pouring out of the music and see abstractions of its inspirations-- that whole long list and more-- as they cycle around again and again and again. Five of these seven songs have been released in various forms on singles and 12"s previously, so the exceptionally high quality of this music isn't a surprise to those who have been following Panda Bear closely. Still, hearing it all together in one place and listening to it all at one time is both overwhelming and inspirational.
Onion AV Club:
Sometimes ominous, sometimes celebratory, always compelling, Person Pitch is as clattering and tactile as a beaded curtain
BBC Collective:
When Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox, is at his best, it can feel like you’ve tapped directly into the sounds that swirled around Brian Wilson’s head during the sandbox in the studio era. But though 60s influences are numerous throughout Person Pitch, from its soaring psychedelic vocal melodies to shimmering layers of guitar and percussion, the panoply of clicks, whirrs and other less readily identifiable blurs of sound that streak its length situate Panda Bear’s fourth solo album squarely in post-techno territory. The result is an album as rich as it is strange.
Yeah, it's really that good. If you like to be challenged by your music, and listen to absolutely beautiful harmonies then give Panda Bear and his album Person Pitch a listen. You won't regret it.
Best Songs:
1. Bros
2. Comfy in Nautica
3. Good Girl/Carrots
22. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
I, like many others, wasn't a huge fan of Get Behind Me Satan. Of course, it had it's great songs, but it was weak compared to their other albums. Now with Icky Thump The Stripes come back guns a blazing. They spent more then a week recording an album, and get a bit experimental (a Trumpet?!?! whaaaaaaaa?) and I think it's their best album in a while. It was also their first album on a major label, and they certainly don't pander to the mainstream audience on this album. My favorite song on the album and second single "You Don't Know What Love Is" (You Just Do As You're Told) is one of The White Stripes' very best songs (imo). It has a great hook, and it rocks very hard. Now let's hope The Stripes and Michel Gondry get together to do that "I'm Slowly Turning Into You" video since that's the whole reason why the song exists (and besides that it's really badass).
Best Songs:
1. You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
2. Effect & Cause
3. I'm Slowly Turning Into You
21. Menomena - Friend And Foe
The best cover art of the year without a doubt. You won't find better album art this year then the art on Menomena's Friend And Foe. To quote a part of the review from Pitchfork's Joe Tangari:
Quote:
Illustrated by Craig Thompson of "Blankets" fame, the front cover has eight possible permutations, four when the CD is in the case, and four when it's in the player (it'll be there a lot)-- and that's not counting all of the slight variations you can get by rotating the disc when it's in the tray. The drawings-- a hellish, humorous freak universe on their own-- are punched with holes to reveal other worlds behind them, full of characters, snippets of lyrics, and the record-fetching dog from the Barsuk logo.
The album is a whole lot more then the art though, it's a very amazing album. This was the first surprise album of the year for me when I heard it in January. I had never heard of the group before, but with Friend And Foe I am now definitely a fan. It was one of the albums that completely dominated my January (as well as another album coming up). I don't know how to describe their music, but it's very modern and well made. You catch something new with every listen. If you are tired with what is out there, and want to hear something new then Menomena's Friend And Foe is just the thing for you.
Best Songs:
1. The Pelican
2. Wet And Rusting
3. Muscle N Flo
pow pow! Part 4 in the can. Part 5 up Sunday (Extras Finale day!), with a music related sidelist tomorrow.
thanks for the comments, and once again keep them coming.
Ben, I don't want to give my list away, but I have to say, you're really, really, wrong when it comes to one of these albums! Because it is MY NUMBER ONE. You ratbastardyou. HOW DARE YOU.
